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Overview

This nonfiction ode to building a house from the ground up features six kinds of craftsmen and the 24 tools they use, accurately labeled. The answer to each inquiring refrain is revealed under a gatefold, seven in all, engaging the reader in an informative guessing game. With lyrical (and factual!) text by New York Times bestselling author Toni Buzzeo, and the expertly stylized art of illustrator and designer Jim Datz, this sturdily constructed board book is perfect for curious and playful young readers.

Product Details

About the Author

Toni Buzzeo is the author of the Caldecott Honor Book and New York Times bestseller One Cool Friend and many other books for children. She lives in Arlington, Massachusetts.Jim Datz is an illustrator and designer known for his screen prints, decorated apparel, and illustrated home goods. He lives in Brooklyn.

Editorial Reviews

It's always good for children to be aware of how things are made, starting with the houses they live in…Datz's lively but approachable illustrations seem more up-to-date than most tool-oriented books, with the workers representing a range of ethnicities and three of them women.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

★ 04/13/2015This delightful guessing game–style board book introduces 24 tools and the tradespeople who use them. “To build a house, start down low./ Whose tools are these? Do you know?” begins Buzzeo as googly-eyed, boot-wearing versions of a chalk line, jointer, chisel, and float smile at readers on a foldout page. Opening it reveals a mustachioed mason, who explains, “I smooth the cement until it’s flat.” Women are well represented among Datz’s carpenters, roofers, electricians, plumbers, and painters (who are drawn in a range of skin tones), providing a subtle “you could do this, too” message that is cemented in a closing scene of two children playing with blocks in the finished house. Ages 2–4. Author’s agent: Stefanie Von Borstel, Full Circle Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"The precise language paired with smiling, cartoon renderings of each tool make this an accessible and fun approach to learning."

Booklist

2015-03-17This board book is an extended guessing game featuring 24 construction tools. Each left-hand page features the start of a riddle, such as "To build a house, start down low," "Place windows high, with floors below," or "Keep all rooms dry in rain or snow," and ends with this refrain: "Whose tools are those? Do you know?" The right-hand pages are populated by four or five tools of a particular trade, going way beyond the normal set of tools you might expect in board- or picture-book fare to include specific equipment like pipe cutters, jointers, floats, and wire strippers. The cheery illustrations lend a bit of needed whimsy by adding funny faces, legs, and feet to each device. Each tool-covered page is a foldout, with the page beneath revealing the answer to the riddle, including masons, carpenters, roofers, electricians, plumbers, and painters. The illustrations send the positive message that builders are women and men of different shapes, sizes, ages, and ethnic backgrounds. Little ones really into construction will appreciate the number and variety of tools featured here, and they will enjoy learning their names as well as which workers put them to use. A nifty, unexpectedly sophisticated exploration of the tools and professions connected to the world of construction. (Board book. 2-5)

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